Ireland's captain William Porterfield will have a key role to play with the bat. Photograph: Rajanish Kakade/AP

Group B

25 Feb v Bangladesh, Mirpur (d/n)

2 Mar v England, Bangalore (d/n)

6 Mar v India, Bangalore (d/n)

11 Mar v West Indies, Chandigarh

15 Mar v South Africa, Kolkata (d/n)

18 Mar v Netherlands, Kolkata

World Cup history

Super Eight stage in 2007

The captain

William Porterfield The left-handed batsman has captained Ireland in all levels, from the Under-13s up. He scored his maiden ODI century against Bermuda in 2007.

The coach

Phil Simmons The coach's first home was Arima in Trinidad, just two doors down from Larry Gomes – another former West Indies batsman. Simmons coached Zimbabwe in 2004

Key batsman

Ed Joyce Dropped by England despite being one of the very few of their batsmen ever to score a ODI century against Australia in Australia, Joyce has been given special dispensation by the ICC to make an early comeback for the country of his birth after some successful recent seasons for Sussex.

Key bowler

George Dockrell Only 18, but he was signed-up by Somerset the day after he finished his school exams. A canny left-arm-spinner, he bowled four overs for 19 against England in the World Twenty20 last year, tying Kevin Pietersen up in knots, and also took three for 16 against the West Indies.

Success depends on

Ed Joyce and William Poterfield bedding in when batting, leading the team to totals that will be big enough to give a competent, canny bowling unit something to work with. They have a few handy spinners and a decent pair of opening bowlers in Trent Johnston and Boyd Rankin, so could cause a surprise a low-scoring match.

Prediction

Group stages They will see themselves as capable of beating Bangladesh and the Netherlands, but this World Cup has been set up to minimise the chances of the minnows making progress.